The present invention relates to material processors used to reduce the particle size of bulk material. More particularly, this invention relates to hay chopping devices used to chop full-sized stems of hay into smaller fragments.
Balanced healthy diet mixtures fed to cattle are based on both hay and grain. The hay from the mixture has an essential role in the cattle""s digestion. However, cattle animals prefer grain to hay, and if the mixture is not homogeneous enough, the animals are able to discriminate between the hay and the grain with their tongue, and are therefore able to eat only the grain. Accordingly, the hay has to be cut short enough in order for the hay and the grain to mix properly, and to make it harder for the cattle to leave out the hay from the mixture.
In order for the hay to be suitably chopped, chopping devices exist in various forms. However, these chopping devices are generally crude and in want of improvement.
The main object of the invention is to provide a hay chopping device that will cut hay stacks efficiently while providing resulting cut hay pieces of a size that cannot be discriminated by the cattle relative to grain.
The present invention relates to a hay chopper for chopping elongated strands of hay into shorter hay fragments, comprising:
a main support frame;
a hay container mounted over said main support frame having an enclosure for containing hay strands fed to said hay chopper;
a chopping element for chopping hay strands contained in said hay container, said chopping element mounted to said main support frame and having an operative face opening into said hay container enclosure, said chopping element comprising a restrainer element composed of a pair of superimposed screens similar to one another, each one of said screens comprising a plurality of spaced-apart elongated slots thereon, wherein when paid screens are superimposed, effective slot windows results from the alignment of registering pairs of said slots from said screens; said chopping element further including a pair of rails mounted onto said main support frame, said screens being mounted onto said rails whereon said screens are slideably moveable; wherein by unaligning said screens, and hence setting an unalignement value, the width of said effective slots is adjustable; said chopping element further comprising actuated shearing blades for slicing hay in touch with said operative face of said chopping element by emerging substantially periodically from underneath said restrainer element through said effective slot windows;
a chopping element adjuster comprising a controller, for adjusting said unalignement value between said screens, whereby the width of said effective slots is adjustable;
an outlet compartment operatively connected to said chopping element and towards which hay is forwarded;
wherein the elongated strands of hay inserted in said container and located onto said operative face of said chopping element are chopped when said actuated blades emerge from underneath said restrainer element through said slot windows, and wherein the shorter hay fragments are sized to bypass said chopping element, in order to pass through said effective slot windows of said chopping element.
In one embodiment, the hay chopper further comprises an auger closely fitted in said outlet compartment, said auger being actuated and conveying the shorter hay fragments forwarded to said outlet compartment outwardly thereof.
In one embodiment, said hay container is a silo.
In one embodiment, said chopping element is located on a platform integral to said main support frame, wherein said silo is cylindroid and is rotatable about its longitudinal axis, and wherein said silo is arranged onto said platform in order for the latter to circumscribe said chopping element, said chopping element extending radially into said silo enclosure and being substantially smaller than said platform, and wherein said chopping element is arranged eccentrically relative to the contour of said platform, an inner end of said chopping element being located in the center area of said platform, and a radially outer end of said chopping element being located radially outwardly of said silo enclosure; wherein the rotatable silo enables said chopping element to tangentially sweep the entire area circumscribed by the contour of said silo, and can hence reach all the elongated hay strands located at the base of said silo.
In one embodiment, said chopping element adjuster is an articulated connecting link comprising an intermediate section mounted to said platform, a handle at a first extremity thereof, by which said connecting link can be maneuvered to adjust said unalignment value, and a second extremity of said articulated connecting link being attached to said screens; wherein said second extremity comprises two branches, each branch being pivotally attached to said screens, and wherein by maneuvering said handle, said branches will slideably displace of one said screen relative to the other onto said rails, this displacement inducing the width adjustment of said effective slot windows.
In one embodiment, each of said slots has a rectangular geometry.
In one embodiment, one of said actuated blades is progressively in register with each one of said effective slot windows; wherein said screens are provided with a greater concentration of slots towards a radially outer edge thereof, hence providing said chopping element with more of said actuated blades towards said radially outer edge thereof.
In one embodiment, said actuated blades are radially carried onto a rotary cylindrical drum, and wherein by rotating, said drum will induce a rotary travel of the blades.
The present invention also relates to a chopping element for use on a hay chopper destined to chop elongated strands of hay contained in an enclosure of a hay container into shorter hay fragments, said chopping element having an operative face opening into said hay container enclosure, said chopping element comprising:
a restrainer element composed of two superimposed screens similar to one another, each one of said screens comprising a plurality of spaced-apart slots thereon, wherein when screens are superimposed, effective slot windows results from the alignment of two corresponding said slots from said screens; wherein by unaligning said screens, and hence setting an unalignement value, the width of said effective slot windows is adjustable;
actuated blades for slicing elongated strands of hay in touch with said operative face of said chopping element by emerging substantially periodically from underneath said screens through said effective slot windows;
a chopping element adjuster comprising a controller for adjusting said unalignement value between said screens, whereby the width of said effective slot windows is adjustable.
The present invention also relates to, in combination:
a rigid main frame defining a through-channel, said through-channel for free flow of aggregate material from an input side to an outlet side thereof;
a knife member mounted to said main frame and extending transversely through a fraction of said through-channel, said knife member having a leading edge, located about said input side of said through channel, and an output, located about said outlet side of said through-channel, said knife member for shearingly fragmenting the aggregate material into finer particulate material; and
a screen member, mounted to said main frame and extending through the full of said through-channel and cooperating with said knife member in enabling free passage therethrough of the finer particulate material exclusively of the aggregate material;
wherein said screen member includes a first grate and a second grate, each of said first grate and second grate including a number of slots, and relative motion means for adjustably moving said first grate relative to said second grate for registering said slots from said first grate at least partly with said slots from said second grate, wherein a specific size of the finer particulate material screened by said screen member is controlled by said relative motion means.
In one embodiment, the combination further includes a conveyor member, mounted to said main frame about said through-channel outlet side, said conveyor member for conveying the finer particulate material from said knife member output to a remote area.
In one embodiment, said relative motion means includes a link rod assembly, pivotally mounted to said main frame, and a handle integral to said link rod assembly, said handle enabling an operator to manually adjust said specific size of the finer particulate material screened by said screen member.
In one embodiment, each of said first grate and of said second grate is of a similar generally planar, wavy shape.
In one embodiment, said knife member includes a number of shearing blades, said shearing blades extending through the registering said slots from said first grate and said second grate, a fraction of said first grate and a corresponding fraction of said second grate having a larger concentration of said slots and associated said shearing blades than the remaining portion of said first grate and said second grate.